Saturday, October 13, 2007

Everybody's talking and no one says a wordEverybody's making love and no one really cares

Everybody's runnin' and no one makes a move Everyone's a winner and nothing left to lose

Nobody told me there'd be days like theseStrange days indeed -- strange days indeed--Strange Days, John Lennon__________

I just received the following response from my local congressman, Allen Boyd. Generally speaking, I am in agreement with the representative on most issues. He is a Vietnam vet, and has helped Ranger as a constituent in the past.

"Thank you for this opportunity to address H.R. 1416, the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, with you. Your views, as a member of the North Florida family, are important to me. I appreciate the thoughts you have communicated.

Please know that I agree with you that the United States should protect the right of all citizens to Habeas Corpus. Since the founding of our nation, we have always fought for the goals and ideals that our founding fathers laid out for us in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We have championed democracy and individual freedom around the world and have served as the model for representative government and individual freedom for over 200 years. It is important that our nation continue this course and keep protecting the rights of all people.

H.R. 1416 repeals provisions of the Military Commissions Act that eliminated the jurisdiction of any court to hear or consider applications for a writ of habeas corpus filed by aliens who have been determined [sic] by the United States. This legislation is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. While I do not sit on this committee, I will continue to monitor this bill and keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for bringing your views to my attention and adding your voice to the ongoing debate. Please continue to write to me, and I encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter by visiting my website at www.house.gov/boyd."

Sincerely,

F. Allen Boyd, Jr.Member of Congress

How can you deny or restore a right which is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? Are we not a nation which abides by the rule of law? Am I alone in my outrage, that a right guaranteed to us in our Constitution has been effectively rescinded?

Even the good representative doesn't have it quite right when he talks about "protect[ing] the right of all citizens to Habeas Corpus." We live by the motto, "All men are created equal"-- writ large. Not just our men; not just RNC members. The rights of habeas corpus accrue to all individuals incacerated within our system.

Why have my rights now become antiquated? What has superannuated them? Some sort of rheostat on my freedoms, operated at the whim of the president? He is not elected to tinker with the foundations of my government (even though he has stated he thinks the power of the legislative branch is invested in him.) Maybe his getting two branches combined in one makes up for V.P. Cheney not belonging to any (?)

What happened to checks and balances?

I guess checks are what this administration writes to float the war, and balances are something to be avoided at all costs.

10 Comments:

That Habeas Corpus thing is fer Merkins, not no furriners. That's what that Magnum Carter paper said. Them Congresspeople gotta protect us from those little people who hate our freedom. Maybe by makin' sure certain Merkins don't have too much freedom.

So watch yourself, Ranger. You'll be on some of those lists along with me!

Silly me, always looking back to those yellowed documents, as though they really meant something. Yes, I must get into my Full Orwell Jacket: They are truncating my freedoms to protect my freedom. Repeat.

Don't get me started on the form letter replies I get from my GOP and oh-so-Christian legislator; he has more time to answer than my Democratic Senators, but it is pure propaganda and very patronizing: don't I know my government is doing what is good for me? Especially as a woman. Grrr.

This was actually a reply to a letter which I sent voicing my concern. So this one does try.

Far as women's rights go, I don't need to tell you that you need only go to your local gyn to find out how much value you merit once you are no longer a viable baby-making machine.

"Are you gonna have a bab with that uterus? No? Well, we'll just yank it out. We won't have to concern ourselves with such frivolities anymore, will we? After all, you don't need hormones, b/c it's all an act anyway to please us [men] anyway, isn't it?"

I offer a small but I think significant correction. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus is actually guaranteed by the original Constitution! This fact I think tells us how important this right is in that the founding fathers managed to agree on putting it in the original document.